April 18, 2008

Final Stats

West Long Branch, NJ - The Wagner College women's lacrosse team received two apiece from sophomore midfielders Krista Malayater (Cheshire, CT/ Cheshire) and Teri Noll (Jordan, NY/ Jordan-Elbridge Central) but fell short in an NEC matchup at Monmouth, dropping a 13-7 decision to the second-place Hawks.

The game was scoreless for the first 9:36 before Wagner got on the board first on a goal by junior midfielder Cara Gonzalez (Syracuse, NY/ Westhill) of an assist by Noll. Following a Monmouth goal, junior midfielder Kelly Blundin (Plymouth Meeting, PA/ Plymouth Whitemarsh) put the Seahawks back out on top, 2-1. After Monmouth went ahead 3-2 on a pair of free position shots by Ashley Waldman, the Seahawks knotted the game at 3-3 on an unassisted Noll goal with 5:11 left to play in the opening half.

Monmouth responded with three consecutive goals in a 3:11 span, including a back-breaking tally by Rachel Feirstein with five seconds left in the half, that put the Hawks up 6-3 at intermission.

Trailing 8-6, Wagner got back to within one goal at 8-7 on a Malyater unassisted goal with 16:39 left to play but Monmouth countered with five unanswered goals in forging the 13-7 win.

The Hawks out-shot Wagner 28-22 and won 12-of-21 draw controls while the Seahawks held a 13-12 edge in ground balls. Junior goalie Alex Johnston (Manlius, NY/ Fayetteville-Manlius) had 11 saves for the Seahawks while Monica Johnson saved 11 shots for Monmouth.

Monmouth's Megan Brennan led all scorers with five points on three goals and two assists for Monmouth, while Waldman and Megan Nutter added three goals apiece. Junior midfielder Lindsay Hashmall (Wantagh, NY/ Wantagh) scooped up a game-high six ground balls for the Seahawks.

With the loss, the Seahawks fell to 2-12 on the season, 2-5 in NEC play while Monmouth improved to 12-4 and the Hawks are now 6-1 in NEC play.

Wagner is next in action on Sun., April 20 when the Seahawks travel to LIU for a 5:00 pm contest.